The FCC implemented E-911 (Enhanced 911) for the cellular phone industry. The wireless Enhanced 911 (E911) rules seek to improve the effectiveness and reliability of wireless 911 service by providing 911 dispatchers with additional information on wireless 911 calls. The wireless E911 program is divided into two parts—Phase I and Phase II. Phase I requires carriers, upon appropriate request by a local Public Safety Answering Point (PSAP), to report the telephone number of a wireless 911 caller and the location of the antenna that received the call. Phase II requires wireless carriers to provide far more precise location information, within 50 to 100 meters in most cases. The deployment of E911 requires the development of new technologies and upgrades to local 911 PSAPs, as well as coordination among public safety agencies, wireless carriers, technology vendors, equipment manufacturers, and local wireline carriers. The FCC established a four-year rollout schedule for Phase II, beginning Oct. 1, 2001 and to be completed by Dec. 31, 2005.
The Phase I requirements were met by blending cellular triangulation and GPS receivers in cellular phones. The Phase II requirements have yet to be met due to the limitations of cellular triangulation and GPS performance inside reinforced buildings and in terrains that degrade or deny cellular and GPS signals.
The need to locate people placing an E-911 call both outdoors and indoors and the need to locate workers in hazardous environments such as first responders, hazardous material industries and offshore workers.
The FCC, realizing the need to also locate first responders as well as consumers placing E-911 calls, on Dec. 21, 2010 released “FCC TAKES FIRST STEP TO HELP REVOLUTIONIZE AMERICA'S 9-1-1 SERVICES FOR CONSUMERS, FIRST RESPONDERS”
Recent offshore operations accidents also reveal the need to know where workers in hazardous work environments are located before, during and after an incident.
The ideal solution is to be able to report the location, date and time of the cell phone making the E-911 phone call in real time, indoors and outdoors and to locate workers in hazardous environments in real time to an accuracy where they can be rescued or directed away from hazards.